ERIK SANZENBACH / L’Observateur / February 9, 2000

EDGARD – The words “prime time” usually conjure up scenes from a favorite nightly television program. However, on Tuesday nights in February, PrimeTime means family reading time at the Roland Borne Sr. Memorial LibraryBranch in Edgard.

For six weeks mothers, fathers, sons and daughters will take home books they will read together. The families will return to the library the followingweek to discuss what they have read, and other stories will be told, prizes given and refreshments served.

“Prime Time targets at-risk children and their parents.” says MargaretCarlson, children’s librarian for the St. John Parish Public Library andprogram director. “The goal of the program is to end the cycle ofintergenerational illiteracy.”On the second Tuesday night of the program 18 adults and 24 children were in the reading room of the library. The parents sat on chairs; the kids sat onthe floor in a large semicircle around story-teller Judy Lovelady.

Lovelady, a librarian in the St. Charles Parish Public Library, has been thestory-teller for the Prime Time program for the past three years. Herenthusiasm for stories is contagious as the children look up at her eagerly waiting for her to speak.

This week, the Prime Time families are reading three books: “The True Story of the Three Little Pigs,” “Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People’s Ears” and “Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day.” Each ofthese books have one thing in common, a theme about trust and truthfulness.

First, Lovelady got the kids involved by having them act out the “real” version of the three little pigs story. This had all the kids giggling andlaughing in delight, especially when one of the older, (and bigger) boys got to play the wolf and blow the houses down. Lovelady had the children reciting inloud, excited voices, “I’ll huff and puff, and blow your house down,” and “not by the hair on my chinny chin-chin!” The parents smiled and clapped their hands at their children’s performances.

Then Lovelady read “The True Story of the Three Little Pigs,” which is narrated by the wolf, who explains he wasn’t looking to eat the pigs, he just sneezed real hard and the houses fell down.

The kids who have read the book with their parents recited certain passages along with Lovelady, and her narration was interrupted with yells of “Oh no!” and “That’s not true!” and “He’s lying!” Finally, Dianne Spencer, English teacher at Nicholls State and discussion leader, asked the group which story was more believable.

All the kids believed the pigs’ story, and Spencer showed them why the wolf was not telling the truth. Then she discussed the concepts of narration andsynonyms with the kids.

Spencer asked what the moral of the story is, and the children said a person should build a house out of bricks. The parents told their children the moralis hard work will bring rewards. The children nodded their heads inagreement.

Prime Time-Family Reading Time is the brainchild of librarian Dianne Brady.

Back in 1991 she wanted to do something to encourage parents to help their children get into books and reading and to introduce people to the benefits of the public library. She began getting parents and children together at thepublic library in East Baton Rouge Parish.

“Prime Time targets a segment of the population that isn’t normally reached,” said Brady, “and introduces them to the pleasures and benefits of families reading together and the many resources and services available to them at the public library.”Today, Prime Time, funded by the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities and the National Endowment for the Humanities, has reached over 4,000 families in 40 different programs from New England to Montana.

The program is open to families with children ages 5 to 10. Each family isgiven a packet of three books, pencils and paper and a copy of L’Observateur for extra reading. At the end of the six-week program each family receives abook donated by the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities.

“The best thing about this program,” said Lovelady. “is that parents andchildren are being exposed to good books and sharing in high quality literature.”Assistant director of the St. John Public Library, Kay McKey, is veryenthusiastic about Prime Time.

“The response has been amazing,” McKey said. “Seventy-five percent of thepeople who signed up have shown up for the program.” The St. John Public Library really hopes Prime Time takes off.”If this is a success here,” stated McKey, ” we will put into effect at other branches sometime in the fall.”The Edgard Branch just opened in January, and having such a program is really an honor for Edgard’s head librarian Vergie Johnson.

“This program is going so well,” Johnson said of Prime Time. “We are reallyexcited about it.”Johnson has started a collection of pictures of the families who have joined Prime Time. Their smiling faces greet all the visitors at the front door of thelibrary.

As one parent, Orelia Harris said, “This is really a good time to be with our kids.”

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